Agenda

Purpose of the briefing

The purpose of this briefing note is to advise Members of a forthcoming full application which proposes the redevelopment of the East Barnwell local centre.

The proposed development involves the demolition of the existing buildings and relocation of existing recreational facilities to enable the provision of a new Local Centre (including a community centre, library, pre-school and commercial units), public open spaces, and 120 residential units (100% affordable).   

The Site

The development site consists of two parcels of land within Cambridge City centre in the Abbey Ward. The sites are currently occupied by a mix of uses. The sites are located on the south east and south west corners of the Newmarket Road and Barnwell Road junction. A copy of the location plan showing the extent of the pre-application submission is included within Appendix 1.

Site 1 is occupied by an inaccessible lawn area, a bowls green and a publicly accessible tennis court. It is surrounded by a high hedge and to the west a linear strip of grassed land with dense mature tree planting. The entire parcel is designated as Protected Open Space.

Site 2 is occupied by housing to the east, a 1960’s run of shops, a separate library and associated servicing for all of the uses. The retail and library form part of the designated local centre and the north east corner of site 2 falls within the R6 site allocation.

To the east of site 2 is the Christ the Redeemer church site. This also forms part of the R6 allocation but the Church are not currently pursuing the redevelopment of this land. The R6 allocation also includes an existing block of affordable homes known as ‘the Stepney block’.

The East Barnwell – Newmarket Road junction is subject to enhancement works proposed by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP). The applicants have been working closely with the GCP design team to ensure the schemes are well coordinated. 

In terms of site constraints, as mentioned site 1 is designated as Protected Open Space.  The entire application site is within Flood Zone 1 (low risk) and low risk from surface water flooding.

There are a number of trees within the sites, none of the trees within the site or surrounding the sites are subject to tree protection orders.

Policy considerations

Policy 67 (protection of open space) is relevant to the application as part of the site is designated as protected open space. The existing site consists of 5615m2 of protected open space in the form of the private Abbey bowls club, a tennis court and the surrounding grass, hedging and trees. The Open Space and Recreation Strategy (2011) as an area of environmental and recreational importance with a quality rating of 55%.

The private bowls club, MUGA and tennis court are proposed to be relocated off site at the Abbey Leisure Centre which is only 465m from the application site. The remaining area of protected open space will be re-provided on site as higher quality  ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

Councillor attendance

Whilst any subsequent planning application relating to this site will be determined by the Planning Committee, all Councillors are invited to attend and take part in this pre-application developer presentation.

Purpose of the meeting

These meetings allow developers an early opportunity to present proposals for future planning applications to elected members of the Council.

The process allows Councillors to feed into the process at an early stage and raise any questions or concerns that can then be addressed by the developer prior to a formal planning application being submitted.

Whilst the meetings will be held in public, they do not form part of the formal decision making process. All planning applications will be determined in line with formal processes as adopted by Cambridge City Council.  

Format of the Meeting

For each Briefing:

·       Introduction by the Head of Planning Services or a Senior Planning Officer – up to 10 minutes

·       Presentation by the developer of the proposal – up to 30 minutes

·       Opportunity for Members to ask questions, raise issues, seek clarification, comment on the apparent positive and less positive aspects of the proposal – up to 40 minutes

During this part of the meeting it is important that Councillors who may ultimately make the decision on any subsequent planning application do not feel unduly constrained by what they can ask or raise. However they should avoid expressing views that might give any appearance that they are approaching the proposal with a closed mind. The discussion should not be used for negotiations with the developer. These should take place with officers separately from the meeting. Members of the public must refrain from entering into the discussion at the meeting.

·       Summing up – up to 10 minutes

A Planning Department representative will take notes of the meeting, which will be a summary of the proceedings. Nothing said by Councillors at the meeting will in any way be binding on the Committee that subsequently determines the application. The notes will be uploaded to the City Council’s website upon completion.